US embassy cable - 02ANKARA9045

UNCLAS ANKARA 009045 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/DDEFALCO 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, KIPR, TU 
SUBJECT:  GOT Response on Doha Declaration on TRIPS and 
Public Health 
 
Ref: State 245178 
 
 
Oya Karakas, Head of Department in the MFA General 
Directorate of Multilateral Economic Affairs, sent 
Embassy the following reply on the issue of compulsory 
pharmaceuticals licensing for countries facing public 
health crises.  The Turkish position notes that these 
provisions are aimed at the least developed countries, 
but does not positively respond to the U.S. proposal 
that OECD countries opt out of the right to become a 
beneficiary importer. 
 
 
Begin Text MFA Reply: 
 
 
No. CEGY-I 
December 2002 
 
 
The  relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and public 
health is an important issue. Given the pressing urgency 
of  the public health problems of certain countries  and 
the   potential  threats  faced  by  some   others,   an 
expeditious  solution  should  be  found  as   soon   as 
possible,  as foreseen in the paragraph 6  of  the  Doha 
Ministerial Declaration. 
 
 
We  recognize  the importance of public health  and  the 
legitimate  concerns  of some countries  in  this  area. 
Public health cannot be discussed only in terms of trade 
concerns   and  economic  interests,  its   social   and 
humanitarian dimension should also be taken into account 
properly. 
 
 
However,  this issue should not either be a  pretext  to 
undermine  the  protection of patent rights.  We  attach 
great   importance  to  the  principles  of  the   TRIPS 
Agreement  and the international norms in the  field  of 
intellectual property protection. 
 
 
As  we  have expressed on several occasions, we  believe 
that  the  TRIPS Agreement provides members with  enough 
room  for  flexibility in case of emergency  situations. 
Therefore,  while conducting negotiations to fulfil  the 
mandate  of  paragraph 6, existing possibilities  within 
the Agreement should be taken into account and examined. 
In  case  of  a deficiency, further measures  should  be 
sought in order to enable these countries to solve their 
public  health  problems. Nevertheless,  these  measures 
should also contain safeguards to prevent abuse. 
 
 
As  a  developing country, we have certain sensitivities 
regarding  public health and developing  countries  have 
different concerns regarding their public health policy. 
These  concerns  should be addressed in  a  satisfactory 
manner. 
 
 
In  our view, the development aspect is one of the  main 
elements of the WTO negotiations; therefore the concerns 
of  developing  countries  should  be  given  sufficient 
attention.   Needless   to  say,   the   least-developed 
countries are the primary focus of our task and at  this 
stage there should not be discrimination among them. 
 
 
While   conducting  negotiations  on  this  issue,   the 
existing  WTO  framework and structure should  be  taken 
into  account  and we should not create new  categories. 
Currently,  WTO members are classified in three  groups: 
namely   developed,   developing   and   least-developed 
members. We are against creation of new categories, such 
as OECD countries. 
 
 
If developing members with high income per capita are to 
be granted certain flexibilities as the outcome of these 
negotiations,  other  developing members  with  a  lower 
level of income per capita cannot be excluded from  this 
scheme. 
End Text. 
Pearson